In the Vatican's St. Peter's basilica in Rome, there is a
rather remarkable sculpture that probably goes mostly unnoticed by those who
visit there. It is a part of a sculpture group by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
decorating the tomb of Pope Alexander VII. At the four corners surrounding the
kneeling Pope, are the four virtues, Charity, Prudence, Justice and Truth.
Charity is on the front left side and "La Verita", which means "The Truth" is
on the right front side of the overview below.

The first thing you might notice is that "Truth" stands with her foot
on a globe of the earth, symbolizing her power over the globe. Then
looking closer you will see that she clutches in her arms the sun,
probably symbolizing Truth's love for the light rather than darkness, and
that the Truth will be revealed in time, by the light of day.

Photo by Scala/Art Resource, New York

Historically, pagan Babylon worshipped the sun as a deity, and
pagan Rome also worshipped the invincible sun. The Roman Catholic Church, with
the assistance of Caesar's civil Sunday law (Constantine),
transferred the Sabbath rest to the Sun Day, and commonly uses images and
symbols of the sun. In the following articles we will examine the many pagan
sunburst images used by the Catholic Church in various forms of art.

Scripture Testifies That Stars Depicted
Pagan Gods

Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch
and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and
the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them:
and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

The Stones Give Their Testimony

On the right is an artifact unearthed in the holy of
holies of the pagan temple in the Canaanite city of Hazor / Hatzor, in
northern Israel, that dates to 1400 years before the time of Christ.
It is described as follows:

"a basalt offering table, pillar-shaped, with a carved symbol of the
storm god Baal on its side. That symbol was a circle with a cross in the
center"

Above is a tablet from the early 9th century B.C. which
depicts the Babylonian sun-god Shamash seated on the right, holding emblems of
his authority, a staff and ring, and the king with two attendants on the left.
In the center, on an altar, is a large 4-point sun image, with additional
small wavy rays between the points. In Hebrew, the word for sun is:

8121. shemesh, sheh'-mesh; from an unused root mean. to be
brilliant; the sun; by impl. the east; fig. a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched
battlement:-- + east side (-ward), sun ([rising]), + west (-ward), window.
See also H1053 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary.

Altar diagram from Ceremonial for the use of the Catholic
Churches in the United States of America,
Ninth Edition, revised by Rev. W. Carroll Milholland, S.S., published by H. L.
Kilner & Co., 1926.

The above diagram of the Catholic altar shows the same general
Babylonian sun symbol. In the photo below, behind Pope John Paul II, on the
front of the altar of St. Peter's Basilica, you see a tapestry with a sunburst
design nearly identical to the pagan sun-god symbol of Baal / Shamash. This
tapestry is called the
altar frontal, antipendium (antependium), or pallium altaris.

The Pope conducting Midnight Mass on the
steps
of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve of 2000.

Below on the left is a picture from the coronation of Pope
Pius XI in 1922. On the tapestry hung from the balcony, there are three
symbols of Baal / Shamash evident. On the right is Pope John XXIII waving to
the crowd in St. Peter's square from above another similar banner, after an
Urbi Et Orbi speech.

Copyright 1922 by Underwood

Photo by Dmitri Kessel

Below on the left is a similar photo of John Paul II, making his first
public appearance as Pope, in 1978.

Photo by Fabian / Sygma

Above on the right is a photo from early in the papacy of John
Paul II, and the symbol of Baal / Shamash appears on the front of his fish
head shaped mitre. Note also the small black cross on his shoulder (compare
below), on what is called a
Pallium:

The modern pallium is a circular band about two inches wide,
worn about the neck, breast, and shoulders, and having two pendants, one
hanging down in front and one behind. ... The ornamentation of the pallium
consists of six small black crosses -- one each on the breast and back, one
on each shoulder, and one on each pendant.

Below on the left is a Neo-Assyrian standing stone (stele/stela)
dating from about 824-811 B.C., which depicts King Shamshi-Adad V. In
particular, note the necklace the King is wearing. On it is what is called a
Cross Pattée or Cross Formée. Twenty-eight hundred years ago that shape was symbolic
of pagan sun worship (click on the image for a closer look).

The Pope wears a similar symbol around his neck, on the Pallium,
which the Pope also confers on selected bishops as an ornamental token of his
favor, and it is also worn by archbishops and patriarchs as a symbol of
their authority as a metropolitan, derived from unity with the Pope. Note
also, that beneath John Paul's Pallium there is an "x" / diagonal
cross, which mimics the diagonal bands below the Cross Pattée worn by the
pagan king. The Pope also has a ring and staff of authority, remarkably
similar to the depiction of the sun god Shamash on the Babylonian tablet shown
previously.

REUTERS

Pope Benedict XVI wears a different style of Pallium that hangs from his
left shoulder and has red crosses. The above photos show vestments worn
during Benedict's trip to the U.S. that feature several sun symbols.

Note the lower hand of King Ashur-nasir-pal II in the above
stele. On the wrist is the sunburst symbol. On the right, the pagan sunburst
is on the glove of Pope John XXIII.

The depictions of the pagan kings on the ancient standing
stones above, show a strip of cloth (lappet) hanging from the rear of the
headgear. These lappets are also present on the papal
mitre and
tiara, shown at
left, and partially visible in the photos of popes above.

On the left is a medallion from the Vatican pavilion of
the 1988 World Expo, which depicts what is called a
Monstrance, used
to display a consecrated host. It bears a remarkable similarity to the
symbol of Baal / Shamash.
See
The Monstrance.

At left are two examples of
ciborium, in
which are kept the Eucharistic wafer hosts of the Catholic Mass. The one
on the left uses the Cross Pattée as a handle on top, and the other uses
the four point cross within a circle, the ancient symbols of Shamash and
Baal.

On the left is a Vatican 100 Lire gold coin. Note the symbol of Baal,
found in Hazor, is behind the head of the figure supposed to be that of
Christ.

Here you see the symbol of Baal used in artwork
representing the Year of the Eucharist that appeared on the cover of
the November 10, 2004 edition of L'Osservatore Romano.

Now on the right you see the sunburst image on the
underside of the canopy of Bernini's Baldacchino, the large canopy-like
monument in St. Peter's Cathedral, directly over the main altar of St.
Peter's, and the alleged tomb of St. Peter. The dove in front of the
sunburst is supposed to be symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Note the shape of
the sun rays. They are essentially identical to that of the pagan sun
symbol worn by Assyrian kings over 800 years before the
time of Christ.

Bernini also put pagan sun images on the top of each of the
columns of his Baldacchino, which stands above the altar of St. Peter's. (The
sun image and 3 bumble bees are symbolic of the Barberini family and Pope
Urban VIII).

Here on the left is essentially the same image as found in Bernini's
La Verita and Baldacchino, but this is the face of the pagan Greek sun god
Apollo, on the temple of Apollo, in the Pergamon museum
in Berlin!